The Tribal Lawyer Certificate program is designed to ensure that law students aspiring to a career representing Indian nations have the skills necessary to appreciate and strengthen the unique nature of Indigenous tribal legal systems.
Effectively representing Indian nations and tribes requires an understanding of the laws, history and policies that affect them. For more than 200 years, the United States has pursued conflicting policies for dealing with the Indigenous peoples located within its borders. As a result, there exists an extremely complicated body of federal, state and tribal law that affects every aspect of Indigenous life.
The complexity of "Indian law," and the lack of specific programs designed to educate graduates as to the unique legal and cultural needs of Indian people, has created a situation in which lawyers representing Indian tribes place too great an emphasis on state law and federal law when dealing with Indian nations. As a result, these lawyers may unconsciously be contributing to the weakening of unique tribal legal and governance traditions by recommending the adoption of tribal laws and policies founded upon the Anglo-American legal and political traditions rather than the unique traditions of their tribal clients.
The Tribal Lawyer Certificate is available to concurrently enrolled KU Law J.D. students
Effectively representing Indian nations and tribes requires an understanding of the extremely complicated body of federal, state, and tribal law that affects every aspect of indigenous societies. The Tribal Lawyer Certificate program ensures that law students who plan careers representing indigenous nations have the skills necessary to appreciate and strengthen the unique nature of tribal legal systems and governments. Among the program’s requirements is an internship with a tribal legal department or a private or public interest law firm specializing in Indian law or participation in the Tribal Judicial Support Clinic.
Required Courses:
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| LAW 914 | Federal Indian Law | 3 |
| LAW 998 | Tribal Judicial Support Clinic (or approved internship) | 3 |
Core Courses (three of the following):
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| LAW 850 | Administrative Law | 3 |
| LAW 892 | Business Organizations | 3-4 |
| LAW 964 | National/International Moot Court Competitions: _____ (Native American) | 1-2 |
| LAW 966 | Oil and Gas | 2-3 |
| LAW 995 | Water Law | 2-3 |
Elective Courses (three of the following):
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| LAW 860 | Alternative Dispute Resolution | 2-3 |
| LAW 879 | Comparative Law | 3 |
| LAW 881 | Conflict of Laws | 2-3 |
| LAW 930 | Corporate Finance | 2-3 |
| LAW 925 | Employment Law | 2-3 |
| LAW 910 | Federal Courts and the Federal System | 3 |
| LAW 913 | Federal Income Taxation | 3 |
| LAW 939 | Labor Law | 3-5 |
| LAW 954 | Legislation and Statutory Interpretation | 2-3 |
| LAW 955 | Legislative Simulation and Study | 3 |
| LAW 956 | Local Government Law | 2-3 |
| LAW 974 | Public International Law | 3 |
| LAW 928 | Remedies | 2-3 |
| LAW 994 | Special Topics: _____ (with approval of certificate director) | 1-4 |
